You may identify the stasis in the play but it isn’t necessarily at the beginning of the play. Where is it and who does it involve? We see several timestamps throughout the play, mostly from newspaper headlines. However, it isn’t until the end of the play when we learn that Hwang is actually telling his story to his audience in present day (which we can assume was in 2009, around the time the play was published). The majority of the story, itself, occurs in the 90’s, yet the story is being told in the early 2000’s. The story revolves around David Henry Hwang, a character he made up named Marcus Gee, several reporters, David’s parents, and numerous others.
Ball points out that the intrusion sometimes occurs late in the dramatic action. What is the intrusion that breaks the stasis in Yellow Face and how is it broken? I would say the intrusion is when David, his father, Marcus, and several other Asian Americans are being investigated and arrested because the FBI believed they were colluding with China. This is when the drama really starts to build and we see this issue goes from just being a social one to a serious political one. This is when we start worrying about the characters’ fate and whether their lives will be turned upside down with jail or worse. This occurs around the time that Leah meets with David to tell him Marcus is being investigated and it just snowballs from there.
Why do the events of the play take place at this particular time and place? In other words, what is the unique factor that is out of the ordinary that causes a turn of events to take place? Hint: what is the heart of the play? How does the title figure in this? This is the day that David Henry Hwang responds to his fail of a play, Face Value, and explains what he has learned from his experience.
State the dramatic question that must be answered by the end of the play? (Ordinarily, the dramatic question shares a close connection with the intrusion.) We want to know what happens to David and his family by the end of the play. We want to know if all of David’s efforts for his protest actually were successful. We see that in a large part, they were because he gets a massive positive response from his play. We also see that his father passes away with a lack of hope and appreciation for his country, which is very disheartening. I believe David tried to dedicate this work to his father and show him that hope is still alive and well.
Use Hwang’s “character” to answer the questions concerning character. Ball says, a character is revealed by what he/she does, ie. The dramatic actions that are taken. Examine what these particular characters wants. The wants of a character often encounter obstacles that get in the way of achieving those wants. Ball says there are 4 kinds of obstacles that frustrate the wants of a character. They are: a. Me against myself, b. Me against another individual, c. Me against society (that is law, social norms, etc.) and, d. Me against fate, the universe, natural forces, God or the gods. In answering these questions be sure to point to the particular obstacles that demonstrate these obstacles facing each of the lawyers. At first, I think Hwang just wants a voice in society to share his issues with oppression and racism Asian Americans face in the U.S. Next, he is just desperate to put on another successful play (Face Value) and is desperate to find characters that he settles for a white guy to play an Asian part, something he has been protesting against himself. This leads to much misunderstanding and causes the play to flop. Lastly, he wants to right his wrongs and uses Marcus to show us that it doesn’t matter your background, we are all American and all deserve the same treatment. Your face is the one you choose to present to people. Clearly, he has obstacles against himself because while he wants to follow what he has been protesting, he needs a good actor to play his role and ends up going against what he believes and hires a white actor. Next, he faces many issues against society, who he believes mistreats Asian Americans. This is made clear when his father, Marcus, and many others were being investigated and arrested for possible collusion with China. Next, he has an obstacle with Marcus during the entire play until the very end (when we realize Marcus is a made-up character) because the whole time Marcus is basically calling David a hypocrite. David finally learns the lesson from Marcus that your face is the one you choose and no one can take that away from you and America makes that possible.
The most important information in most plays takes place during theatrical moments. Identify the most theatrical moments in Yellow Face. I think some of the most theatrical moments are when David is consumed with news reports surrounding him. Other theatrical moments include when the investigations begin, and finally the ending scene when we find out Marcus is made up, but for good reason. Marcus teaches David, and the reader, what David had been missing the whole time and David’s father’s dream since he came to America. You aren’t defined by your race or ethnicity. You are defined by how you present yourself and your personality.
We see several timestamps throughout the play, mostly from newspaper headlines. However, it isn’t until the end of the play when we learn that Hwang is actually telling his story to his audience in present day (which we can assume was in 2009, around the time the play was published). The majority of the story, itself, occurs in the 90’s, yet the story is being told in the early 2000’s. The story revolves around David Henry Hwang, a character he made up named Marcus Gee, several reporters, David’s parents, and numerous others.
Ball points out that the intrusion sometimes occurs late in the dramatic action. What is the intrusion that breaks the stasis in Yellow Face and how is it broken?
I would say the intrusion is when David, his father, Marcus, and several other Asian Americans are being investigated and arrested because the FBI believed they were colluding with China. This is when the drama really starts to build and we see this issue goes from just being a social one to a serious political one. This is when we start worrying about the characters’ fate and whether their lives will be turned upside down with jail or worse. This occurs around the time that Leah meets with David to tell him Marcus is being investigated and it just snowballs from there.
Why do the events of the play take place at this particular time and place? In other words, what is the unique factor that is out of the ordinary that causes a turn of events to take place? Hint: what is the heart of the play? How does the title figure in this?
This is the day that David Henry Hwang responds to his fail of a play, Face Value, and explains what he has learned from his experience.
State the dramatic question that must be answered by the end of the play? (Ordinarily, the dramatic question shares a close connection with the intrusion.)
We want to know what happens to David and his family by the end of the play. We want to know if all of David’s efforts for his protest actually were successful. We see that in a large part, they were because he gets a massive positive response from his play. We also see that his father passes away with a lack of hope and appreciation for his country, which is very disheartening. I believe David tried to dedicate this work to his father and show him that hope is still alive and well.
Use Hwang’s “character” to answer the questions concerning character. Ball says, a character is revealed by what he/she does, ie. The dramatic actions that are taken. Examine what these particular characters wants. The wants of a character often encounter obstacles that get in the way of achieving those wants. Ball says there are 4 kinds of obstacles that frustrate the wants of a character. They are: a. Me against myself, b. Me against another individual, c. Me against society (that is law, social norms, etc.) and, d. Me against fate, the universe, natural forces, God or the gods. In answering these questions be sure to point to the particular obstacles that demonstrate these obstacles facing each of the lawyers.
At first, I think Hwang just wants a voice in society to share his issues with oppression and racism Asian Americans face in the U.S. Next, he is just desperate to put on another successful play (Face Value) and is desperate to find characters that he settles for a white guy to play an Asian part, something he has been protesting against himself. This leads to much misunderstanding and causes the play to flop. Lastly, he wants to right his wrongs and uses Marcus to show us that it doesn’t matter your background, we are all American and all deserve the same treatment. Your face is the one you choose to present to people. Clearly, he has obstacles against himself because while he wants to follow what he has been protesting, he needs a good actor to play his role and ends up going against what he believes and hires a white actor. Next, he faces many issues against society, who he believes mistreats Asian Americans. This is made clear when his father, Marcus, and many others were being investigated and arrested for possible collusion with China. Next, he has an obstacle with Marcus during the entire play until the very end (when we realize Marcus is a made-up character) because the whole time Marcus is basically calling David a hypocrite. David finally learns the lesson from Marcus that your face is the one you choose and no one can take that away from you and America makes that possible.
The most important information in most plays takes place during theatrical moments. Identify the most theatrical moments in Yellow Face.
I think some of the most theatrical moments are when David is consumed with news reports surrounding him. Other theatrical moments include when the investigations begin, and finally the ending scene when we find out Marcus is made up, but for good reason. Marcus teaches David, and the reader, what David had been missing the whole time and David’s father’s dream since he came to America. You aren’t defined by your race or ethnicity. You are defined by how you present yourself and your personality.